THE LURE OF MARS

Of all the planets in
the solar system, none have intrigued the public more than
Mars. Mars is easy to observe and changing surface
markings can be seen with even a small telescope. It was the
changing variegated surface markings that led to the
speculation of life on the red planet.

Mars has a diameter of
6796 km, about half the size of the Earth. A day on Mars is 24
hours 37 minutes almost exactly the same as Earth's. The
Martian year is 687 days slightly less than twice the length of
a year on Earth.

In some ways, Mars is
quite similar to Earth. The red planet's axial tilt is 25.2
degrees, very close to the Earth's. Mars also displays seasons,
polar caps and geological features of the grandest scale, Mars
is a fascinating planet!